The stock market fell for the fourth straight day on the last trading day last week and investors suffered heavy losses. A four-day straight decline in benchmark indices has left investors with around Rs. 21 lakh crores of assets have decreased. The West Asia crisis has led to a surge in crude oil prices, which has led to heavy selling pressure in Indian stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed down 125.56 points (0.17 per cent) at 73,123.83 on Friday, ending its fourth consecutive session of decline. In the week shortened by holidays, the benchmark index fell 1,605.44 points (2.15 percent). Due to the weakness in the stock market, the total market capitalization of BSE listed companies in four sessions fell by Rs. 20,78,774.28 crores has decreased. On October 16, it was Rs. 4,72,62,167.42 crore, which has now reduced to Rs. 4,51,83,393.14 crores.

Due to this reason the stock market fell

Siddharth Khemka, head of research, wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said Indian markets could remain weak due to rising geopolitical tensions and a rise in crude oil prices, which are also raising inflationary concerns. Crude oil prices crossed US$115 a barrel, the highest in five months, amid fears of supply disruptions in West Asia and worries about Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. He further said that rising tensions between the US and Iran, stalled diplomatic talks and reports of new US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear and military sites have increased geopolitical risks.

A decline was observed in these shares

Among the Sensex companies, Tata Steel and Adani Ports were the worst performers, down over 3 percent. Apart from this, shares of Trent, Tech Mahindra, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Indigo, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, State Bank of India and Hindustan Unilever also declined. In contrast, shares of Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Ultratech Cement, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki India, Infosys and ICICI Bank rose. Khemka said Jio Platforms’ record Rs 30,213 crore IPO was subscribed 22.19 times, with good participation from all types of investors. Shares of the Jio platform are going to list on October 28, which will be an important event for the primary market next week.

Investors became more cautious

The price of global oil benchmark Brent crude crossed the level of $116 per barrel. There has been a jump of about 3 percent and it has reached $ 116.73 per barrel. Ankur Punj, managing director of Equirus Wealth, said the fall in US markets had alerted domestic investors, which led to the market continuing to decline. Apart from this, there was overall selling pressure in the market due to the resurgence in crude oil prices at the global level and weakness in the rupee. He further said that most of the Asian markets showed improvement, but domestic markets saw a steep decline. The main reason for this is the fluctuation in crude oil prices and the increase in US bond yields, due to which the concern of future inflation has increased.

What will the market look like in the future?

Regarding the market outlook, Khemka said investors will remain cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting on October 27-28. In addition, they will also monitor important economic data such as US unemployment claims and GDP growth and the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decisions. All eyes will be on Q2 results (earnings season) next week. Major companies like Paytm, Tata Consumer, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, HUL, Adani Ports, Trent, Sun Pharma and BEL will declare their results during this period. He said that overall, crude oil prices, geopolitical developments, foreign investment flows and corporate results will determine which direction the market will go.